WITH the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) drawing near, all the athletes are gearing up to emerge as champions.
The long awaited SUKMA will be hosted in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 16 to Sept 24 featuring 426 events in 31 sports comprising 223 events for men, 184 for women and 19 mixed events.
SUKMA organising committee chairman Datuk Jana Santhiran Muniayan said based on the confirmed registration that was shortlisted on Aug 10, the SUKMA this year will see 6,606 athletes and 1,811 officials from 15 contingents taking part.
“The Federal Territories has the highest athlete participation of 579, followed by Sarawak with 569, and 538 from Johor,” he said in a statement.
With the athletes fully prepared for the SUKMA, Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah expressed his hope that Sarawak will be crowned champion this time.
“Our target is 44 golds based on the prediction made by the team managers and coaches, but I do believe that we are capable of winning more than that judging by the progress.
“This is based on the feedback that we got from the sports that have athletes who are undergoing training in Sarawak and outside the state, and we are hoping that we can get some surprises from these sports,” he said.
High hopes for SUKMA para athletes
The postponement of SUKMA due to the pandemic had made Sarawakians eager to see their proud athletes stand on the podium.
Out of 569 athletes from Sarawak, 165 of them are of the paralympic athletes who are expected to bring medals home and emerge as champion for the 14th time at the SUKMA Para Games.
Sarawak Paralympics SUKMA Contingent Coordinator Mathew Chin Hiong Choi pointed out that the utmost care given by the Ministry of Women, Early Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development to the para athletes all these times will surely motivate them to be champions in all the Games that they are participating in.
“We have high hopes for our para athletes. They have trained tirelessly for the moment.
“I believe that with all the time and effort that they have given, it will not go to vain,” he said.
Adding on, he disclosed that this SUKMA will be the platform for some athletes which they have scouted from Sarawak Carnival for the Disabled (KOKUS), and Talent Identification (TID) programme which was held yearly statewide to shine.
“We know that the disabled have always been seen as ‘lesser’ and all they need is a chance to prove their capabilities.
“That is why you can see that after we scouted them from the programmes, they took advantage of the opportunity and trained really hard to show their talents and passion for the sports that they love,” he said.
Nevertheless, despite many of the new para athletes from Sarawak, he said that the state is still looking for new talents to polish.
“Due to the age limit imposed on some of the sports, being an athlete, we need young talents. We know for sure that in Sarawak, we have a lot of potential talents that will shine brightly.
“All we need is the time, programmes, and initiative to scout and polish these talents to be successors of our current champions,” he said.
SUKMA para athletes all geared up
With the glory brought by our gold medalists, Fraidden Dawan, Mohd Adib Iqbal, and Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli in the 11th ASEAN Para Games in Solo, Indonesia recently, the swimmer representatives in the upcoming SUKMA are all motivated to showcase their talents.
For the swimming sports category, Sarawak will be sending a total of 29 of its para athletes to participate in it.
For that, the New Sarawak Tribune had met with our SUKMA para athletes swimmers to share on their preparation.
Rapelson Richard Hamit from Kampung Batu Gong expressed his pride at being able to represent Sarawak in SUKMA for the second time.
According to him, his first debut was during the SUKMA games 2018 held at Ipoh, Perak.
“Despite not being able to bag any medals during that time, it did not stop me from trying,” he said.
With his resilience, he managed to win two gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal in the Malaysia Open Para Swimming Championship 2019.
“My achievement was all thanks to the support and encouragement from my family and the people around me.
“With this, I hope that I will be able to further my achievement to bring glory not only for Sarawak but to Malaysia as well,” he said.
Sharing on the training that the athletes are given for this SUKMA, the father of three said that the training module programme this time around is quite challenging.
“My training session is usually done every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday morning under Coach Imran Nawawi and coach Donny Sa.
“The training module that they gave is strict but it is understandable because the coaches need to ensure that the athletes’ level of competence under them is fully ‘fit’ before the tournament.
“For that, I believe that my aim to obtain all three medals in the categories that I participate in is not impossible.
“The strict and rigorous training given to me has helped me to maintain and increase my speed and performance,” he said.
When asked about his challenges for being an athlete and involved in the political arena at the same time, he said that thus far, there are no challenges that are holding him back.
“Now, I am taking a break from the political arena and am putting my utmost focus on this upcoming SUKMA.
“For athletes such as myself, we need a high level of discipline to achieve the result that we want.
“Aside from that, it is also important to respect the coaches and trainers while abiding by the training programmes given,” he said.
With Sarawak aiming to become the champion for the 14th time at the SUKMA Para Games, he advised the athletes to train hard with the remaining time left.
“We need to bring glory in the name of Sarawak and give back to the Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development for taking good care of our welfare in terms of the monthly allowance.
“Furthermore, incentives will be given when we manage to win the medals,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, for Galang Jabai, 36, he expressed that he is eager to compete in the upcoming SUKMA.
“Despite having competed in the SUKMA Para Games since 2018, I still feel proud that I am one of the selected people to represent Sarawak,” he said.
He added that with all the tournaments that he had participated in, he will do his utmost best to bring medals back for the Bumi Kenyalang.
“Together with other athletes, we have been going through rigorous training to be on this level.
“For that, I believe that we will be able to emerge as champion for the 14th time at the SUKMA Para Games,” he said.
What does the coach say?
The SUKMA para athletes swimmer coach Imran Nawawi who hails from Sarawak shared that he is proud of all the nine athletes under him for giving their best during training.
“It is amazing to see that some of them even took the initiative to do self-training to improve their performance.
“It is undeniable that they show high dedication for the sake of Sarawak,” he said.
Commenting on the para athletes in Sarawak, he said in actuality, there are a lot of athletes that have high potential to shine with the determination that they have in them.
“From what I have seen, these athletes have always given their 100 per cent effort during their training despite being tired.
“I believe that the discipline that they showed, hard work, and positivity will be one of the many factors for these athletes to move forward and shine,” he said.
Meanwhile, sharing his experience being the coach of the para athletes, he emphasised that utter patience and faith are most important.
“Being their coach, the concept of give and take is a must. With the attention, strict training and consistency given, InsyaAllah, everything will go well.”
Having said that, he pointed out that as a coach, he would always focus on discipline and giving motivation and advice to the athletes under him.
“We know that if the athletes do not have the right spirit, they will not be able to achieve what they are targeting.
“Therefore, at times during training, I would let them have fun in the pool and there are also times where I would swim together with them to give encouragement and personal guidance,” he said.
As such, he shared that thus far, he has never encountered athletes under him who behaved too aggressively and had severe problems.
“I believe that the respect and the spirit of working together between I and my athletes are the main contributors to this.
“Aside from that, in my point of view, it is important to give these para athletes special attention and praise during training so that they will remain strong and continue giving their best. For them, it has not been easy to reach this level,” he said.
In light of this, Imran expressed his hopes that the para athletes who are representing Sarawak in the SUKMA to be able to win as many medals as possible.
“Above all, I hope that these athletes will continue to strive to reach the top while inspiring the young and new talents,” he said.
For that, he vowed that as a coach, he will always help and guide the old and new para athletes to succeed.
“With the support given by the government and any private agencies, I will do my best in scouting new talents.
“It is also hoped that relevant parties will provide and ensure that all the needs, and facilities needed by the para athletes are facilitated and prioritised,” he said.
